Hook and eye.



No. 628,634. Patented .luly H, |899.

' W. W; PIERCE.

HOOK' AND EYE.

(Application led Oct. 14, 1898.)

(No Model.)

UNITED ,STATESv PATENT GFFICE.

VVILLIAllI,W. PIERCE, `OF BUFFALO, NEV YORK.

HooKAND EYE.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,634, dated July 11,1899. Application iiled October I4, 1898.- Serial No. 693,541. (No model.)

To ll'whom it 11m/y concern: y

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. PIERCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie Vand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hooks and Eyes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the garment-fastenings known as ,hooks and eyes, and more 1o especially to an improvement in the fastening shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No.*587,189, granted July 27, 1897, to I. P.Doolittle. The fastening of this patent comprises an eye member having I5 its bow provided with an ,inwardly-extending locking-head, which is connected with the bow by a contracted neck, and a hook member having a pair of laterally-yielding Shanks arranged side by side and terminating at their 2o outer ends in hooks which engage with the bow of the eye member on opposite sides of its locking-head and which are separated at their bends by an aperture which receives said head. In disconnecting or breaking the parts of this fastening the same are turned outwardly at an angle to each other, so as to cause the hooks to be spread apart by the neck of the locking-head and permit said neck to pass between the ends or noses 3o of the hooks.

The object of my invention is the construction of a fastening of this character which permits the breaking or disengagement of the parts by turning the same at an" angle, not 3 5 only in one direction, but either inwardly or outwardly, as may be most convenient.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a front or outside view of the fastening, showing the parts engaged. Fig. 2 is a rear orin- 4'0 side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the fastening in line 3 3, Fig. 1.

Fig. Il is a similar' section showing vthe parts of the fastening turned outwardly at an angle to each other for breaking or disengaging the same. Fig. 5 is a front or outside viewshow'- ing the members of the fastening turned atan angle in the opposite direction, the hooks being shown as spread to their maximum extent preparatory to separating the members.

5o Fig. 6 `is a longitudinal section in line 6 6, Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and S are perspective views of the members of the fastening.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A isthe eye member, having a loop a for attaching it to the garment or other article, and a is thelocking-head, extendinginwardly from the bow or front portion of the member and connected therewith by the narrow neck or reduced portion a2. The locking-head preferably has the form of a spear or arrow head, and the portion thereof between its widest portion and the bow tapers toward the neck, or, in other words, the lateral edges of the head immediately in rear of its widestportion diverge toward the point of the spearhead, as shown at a3.

. The hook member consists of an attachingloop B and the two laterally-yielding hooks b ZJ, whichk engage with the bow of the eye member on opposite sides of the neck a2 when the parts are interlocked and which are separated at their outer portions or bends by an aperture which receives the locking-head of the leye member and is normally narrower than the widest portion of the head, so that the hooks must spring'farther apart in order to allow the locking-head to pass through the aperture,as in the fastening of the Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to. Then the parts of the fastening are disconnected, by turning the same at an outward angle or away from the garment or other article, as shown in Fig. 4, the neck of the eye member forces the hooks ofthe other member apart and passes between thesame, as in the fastening of the Letters Patenthcreinbefore referred to.

In'order to permit the breaking or disengagement of the fastening by a reverse or inward turn fof its members, the bow of the eye member is provided with an inwardlyprojecting stop or lip c, against which the ends. of the hooks b bear in turning the members inwardly on each other and which compelsthe hooks to spring inwardly over the locking-head of the eye member for disengaging the parts. In turning the members on each Vother inv this manner the stop or lip c acts as a fulcrum or abutment against which the points of the hooks bear and which causes the bends of the hooks to ride inwardly or rearwardly along the diverging sides 0.3 of the locking-head as the members are turned at an increasing angle to each other, thereby IOS loV

2 I y v 628,634

ciently to allow them to clear the lockinghead, as shown in Fig. 5, and disengaging thel members of the fastening. This double unlocking capacity renders the fastening more convenient in use than a fastening which unlocks only in one direction, such a fastening being especially desirable for Suspenders and horse-blankets, where convenience requires that the fastening should be capable of disengagement by turning the parts in either direction. The stop or lip c also serves as a guard which covers' the points of the hooks b and prevents the same from catching or tearing the clothing. i

I claim as my invention f 1. The combination with an eye member having its bow provided with an in wardly-extending locking head or enlargement connected with' the bow by a neck or contracted por-V tion and a stop or abutment arranged on the outer or front portion of the bow, of a hook member having a pair of laterally-yielding hooks adapted to engage with the bow of the eye member on opposite sides of said neck 'and arranged to bear against saidwstop or abut-ment in turning the members of the fastening at an angle to each other for discon nectingrthe same, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with an eye member having its bow provided with a stop or abutmentv and an inwardly extending locking head or enlargement connected with the bow bya narrow neck,.lhe edges of that portion vof the head adjacent to said neck diverging toward the widest portion of the head, of a hook member having a pair ofglaterally-yield- WM. WV. PIERCE.

lVitness'es:

JNO. J. BONNER, CARL F. GEYER. 

